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前沿生物技术加快生物学的研究
Multiplexing in highly automated systems is one way of speeding up the assays used for target identification. Bio-Rad in Hercules, California, offers Bio-Plex, a multiplex analysis system that allows the simultaneous analysis of up to 100 different biomolecules (proteins, peptides or nucleic acids) in a single microplate well. Bio-Plex integrates assay kits, software, calibration and validation tools, and instrumentation into a complete system. The Bio-Plex suspension array and workstation uses three main technologies: a family of fluorescence-tagged microspheres from Luminex in Austin, Texas; a flow cytometer that uses two lasers to measure biochemical reactions occurring on the surface of the microspheres; and a high-speed digital signal processor to manage the fluorescent output.
In its target-identification programme, Xantos Biomedicine of Munich, Germany, uses high-throughput cellular screening assays to study gene function in parallel for thousands of genes. For whole-genome screening, its proprietary XantoPrep and XantoScreen high-throughput system screens complementary DNA libraries by overexpression in transient transfection systems, enabling Xantos to carry out functional analysis on up to 100,000 different cDNAs per month. "Genes or proteins are selected by their ability to directly influence physiologically relevant processes or pathways in cellular assays, leading to a very small number of relevant hits compared with expression-profiling studies, for example," says Andrea Gnirke, senior scientist for expression analysis at Xantos. These methods have been used to identify secreted proteins influencing the differentiation of fat cells, which play a major role in the development of insulin resistance, and which Xantos hopes could have potential for the treatment of obesity-related type II diabetes. An interesting future direction for Xantos, along with many other companies, includes RNA interference (RNAi). "Xantos is implementing a confocal high-content imaging screening system and aims to integrate RNAi technology for high-throughput application," says Gnirke.
Nature 428, 229 (11 March 2004); doi:10.1038/428229a very good, thank you [标签:content1][标签:content2]
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-03-26 17:11
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